Law criminalising insults to national anthem passed by China’s legislature, with detention for offenders
Law governing use of the anthem will also be applied to Hong Kong
China’s top legislature on Friday passed a law that will eventually apply in Hong Kong, criminalising disrespect for the national anthem and laying out stiff penalties for offenders, including periods in detention.
Concerns in Hong Kong about the implications for freedom of expression prompted the city’s justice minister to give an assurance that the government understood such anxieties and would gauge public views first.
Officials said the legislation would be inserted into the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, as early as next month.
This would be followed by work to formulate local legislation on the issue that would fit with “Hong Kong’s circumstances”, the city’s No 2 official, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said.
Cheung said the local government would “listen to opinions in the Legislative Council ... in deciding the most effective way to implement the law according to Hong Kong’s circumstances”.
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said the local version of the law would maintain the original intent of the mainland legislation while safeguarding Hongkongers’ basic rights and freedoms.